Special election ends tonight to fill Nury Martinez L.A. City Council seat
Voting centers open at 7 a.m. Tuesday at locations around City Council District 6 for the special election to fill the council seat that became vacant with the resignation of disgraced former Council President Nury Martinez. Polls close at 8 p.m.
Seven candidates are on the ballot to fill out the term, which ends in December 2024. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, there will be a runoff between the top two vote-getters, with the deadline to cast ballots June 27.
The seven candidates on the ballot are Marisa Alcaraz, Rose Grigoryan, Issac Kim, Imelda Padilla, Marco Santana, Antoinette Scully and Douglas Sierra.
Early voting for the special election began March 25, with registered voters receiving vote-by-mail ballots and in-person voting made available as well. Voters can cast their ballots in several ways, including at vote centers, at drop-off boxes, and by mail if postmarked by Tuesday and received within seven days.
Voters can find a voting center or a drop-box location at the L.A. County Vote Centers page.
Whoever is elected will represent a large portion of the San Fernando Valley, including Arleta, Lake Balboa, North Hills, North Hollywood, Panorama City, Sun Valley and Van Nuys.
Martinez represented the district until October, when she resigned first her council presidency and then, two days later, her seat altogether. Her resignations came in the wake of Martinez being caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and leaked to the media.
Former Councilman Gil Cedillo was also in that meeting, along with Councilman Kevin de León and Ron Herrera, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Herrera also resigned his post, while Cedillo ultimately left the council at the end of his term after losing his bid for re-election in June.
De León has defied continued calls for his resignation but has been stripped by the council of major committee assignments and largely shunned by council colleagues.
District 6 is currently overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city's chief legislative analyst Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council, but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
